Tullow in gas sell-off

EXPLORER Tullow Oil is bailing out of North Sea gas fields and buying a Norwegian rival to cash in on the European oil market.

PUBLISHED: PUBLISHED: 10:00, Wed, Dec 12, 2012

Tullow also said it failed to find oil in a well off the coast of Ghana and its shares fell 106p to

One of Britain’s largest oil explorers, Tullow unveiled plans to sell its gas fields in the UK and Dutch North Sea by the end of 2013.

It also pledged to pay up to £417million to buy oil explorer Spring Energy Norway from private equity firm HitecVision.

The company hopes the Norwegian assets will underpin its exploration portfolio and offset uncertainty from its operations in Africa where investors are wary of political risk.

The Norwegian assets are a very good balance

Chief executive Aidan Heavey

A string of big discoveries off the coast of Norway in the last two years have revived interest in the Norwegian North Sea, contrasting with fortunes off the UK coast, where new oil reserves tend to be smaller and harder to find.

Chief executive Aidan Heavey said: “The problem with the UK assets is they are just cash-fl ow and there is no real material needle moving exploration available.

“The Norwegian assets are a very good balance.”

Tullow also said it failed to find oil in a well off the coast of Ghana and its shares fell 106p to 1150p.